Eurasian Oystercatcher Calling

[Bill Dix]

From Flatey Island, IS, in 2019. This is the male, who had been making forays into the ocean and bringing back oysters for his mate and fuzzy chick. (Which explains why he appears a bit wet.) Some time ago I posted a similar pose of the female, from same location but different date and different rock, here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...+oystercatcher. Makes for an interesting comparison of the two, with the female appearing somewhat more brown in color.

D500, Sigma 150-600C @ 600mm, ISO 2500, 1/2500s @ f/8 manual.

[annmpacheco]

Hello Bill, excellent image, processing, IQ, i like the clean perch and BG and the calling , wonderful details on both blacks and whites. Excellent work!

[Kurt Bowman]

Nice frame Bill. I like the open beak and green BG. As Ann said, good techs and nice work!

[arash_hazeghi]

nice image Bill, love the the calling pose, perch, BG. good exposure, sharp. if mine I'd back off on NR, it has rubbed the black plumage a little bit

TFS

[gail bisson]

Perfect calling pose with a wonderful BG.
Bonus points for the clean perch.
Nice to see the feet gripping the rock.
Good one!
Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Love the bird, the calling pose, the perch, and the BKGR. To my eye, the blacks look totally smoothed out.

with love, artie

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice shot, the colours appear just a tad heavy/saturated to me, the black plumage seems a little beaten flat in parts.

[John Mack]

Nice pose,perch,background and calling. Framing is dead on.

[Bill Dix]

Thank you all for your comments. "Smoothness" of the black feathers is noted. I did a little, but not much, NR on the bird. As I said, the bird had been making forays into the ocean, and wetness of the feathers might have had something to do with it. But there is something a bit odd about the appearance of the primaries and primary coverts (roughly rear third of the bird's black plumage) that show not only a lack of texture but also a slightly different, browner color. This appears in the RAW file. I can't explain it, but it is not a result of PP. I did not adjust saturation.

[Brian Sump]

Congrats Bill. The mood, the calling pose, perch and bkg check all the boxes.

Exposed nicely in the even light. FWIW, at my first and second, and.... well all the glances, I really didn't have any beef with the blacks. I think it's because there's still texture in the head and cheeks where it matters. Didn't feel overdone to my eyes at least.

Well done sir!

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Brian. btw, I went back and looked at Ann's lovely frame with the yellow habitat, and noticed a similar slight brownish color and flat texture to the primary. Maybe that's their natural look. I'll have to go back and look at some of my other frames.